January 1973 lunar eclipse

A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on Thursday, January 18, 1973, the first of four lunar eclipses in 1973, lasting almost 4 hours. At maximum eclipse, 86.555% of the Moon's disc was partially shaded by the Earth, which caused a slight shadow gradient across its disc; this subtle effect may have been visible to careful observers. No part of the Moon was in complete shadow. The eclipse lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes and 33.7 seconds overall. The Moon was only 2 days after perigee (Perigee on Tuesday, January 16, 1973), making it 3.9% larger than average. At greatest eclipse, the Moon's center was 365,613 km (227,181 mi) from the Earth's center, only 5,613 km (3,488 mi) to be a Super Full Moon.[1]

January 1973 lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse
Date18 January 1973
Gamma-1.08446
Magnitude0.86555
Saros cycle143 (16 of 73)
Penumbral236 minutes, 33.7 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P119:18:54.5
Greatest21:17:14.0
P423:15:28.2

Visibility

It was completely visible over North America, South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Asia and Australia, seen rising over the Atlantic Ocean and setting over the western North Pacific Ocean.

Relation to other lunar eclipses

Eclipses in 1973

Lunar year series
Lunar eclipse series sets from 1969–1973
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing		 Type
Chart		 Gamma Saros Date
Viewing		 Type
Chart		 Gamma
108 1969 Aug 27
 Penumbral
 -1.54066 113 1970 Feb 21
 Partial
 0.96198
118 1970 Aug 17
 Partial
 -0.80534 123 1971 Feb 10
 Total
 0.27413
128 1971 Aug 06
 Total
 -0.07944 133 1972 Jan 30
 Total
 -0.42729
138 1972 Jul 26
 Partial
 0.71167 143 1973 Jan 18
 Penumbral
 -1.08446
148 1973 Jul 15
 Penumbral
 1.51782
Last set 1969 Sep 25 Last set 1969 Apr 2
Next set 1973 Jun 15 Next set 1973 Dec 10

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 150.

January 14, 1964 January 25, 1982

See also

Notes
  1. Saros series 118
  2. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros


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